False Apocalypse: Descent
by Luce Ravenier
Summary: The Troopers have beaten evil before, but they have never encountered the Beginning of the End. First in a trilogy. Rated T for strong language, graphic violence and adult situations.
1. Chapter 1

"Hurry up, Maki!" the youth called impatiently, bouncing on the foot still on his skateboard. "Ryo's going to leave without us!" 

"I'm_coming_, Jun!" she yelled back, her blades making rattling noises as she set them down on the concrete. Her hair - a pretty shade of blue, chin-length and curled under - flew out behind her. The sole auburn section of hair that framed her face smacked her in the nose when she stopped beside her friend. "Eeee, Jun! He's not going to leave without us! Ryo wouldn't do that."

"C'mon, light, change ..." Jun urged the pedestrian light. Maki just giggled at him and shifted her backpack on her shoulders. She and Jun were spending the night at Nasuti's. They were going to meet with Shu and Shin and Seiji and Touma and Nasuti for dinner and _then_ they were all going back to Nasuti's. They were going to play games and watch movies and sleep late - then wake up and do it all over! She was very excited.

"Yes!" Jun exclaimed; the light had changed. He pushed off strongly and hopped on his board, maneuvering expertly through the crowd. Maki sighed heavily and pushed off as well, wheels clacking on the concrete.

"JUN! Wait up!"

"Go faster!" She growled in her throat and ducked lower, driving herself forward speed-skater-style. In seconds, she had caught up; she flashed a grin at him and pulled ahead. Jun pushed harder and strove to catch up. The two were nearly matched by the time they were coming up on the store Ryo worked at. Maki twisted her upper body, turning herself sharply, and stopped almost immediately; Jun had a bit more trouble slowing so easily. Maki put one hand on her hip and gave him a smug look.

"Was_that_ fast enough for you, little boy?"

"I'm_bigger_ than you, you know."

Maki snorted "So? I'm older and I skate better," she retorted as she pushed open the door, holding it while Jun trotted inside with his board under his arm. He looked around quickly, searching for a blacktopped head over the racks of skateboards, snowboards, kayaks and clothes. A couple of teenagers, dressed in ripped T-shirts over striped longsleeves and loose jeans, stood behind the counter. The youth with cropped, silver-tipped blond hair and ball studs in his tongue and eyebrow looked over and grinned.

"Oi, Jun, Maki-chan! Looking for Ryo?"

"Yeah! Did he leave already?"

"No way! He's skating the park, waiting on you two." The youth jerked his head toward the back of the store, where the entrance to the indoor park was. Jun grinned and headed straight for it, leaving his bag on the floor absently. Maki glared after him, then picked it up and skated to the counter.

"Could you watch these for us? Until we leave?"

"Sure, Maki, no prob."

"Thanks!" she chirped and skated to the back, where she suspected she, Ryo and Jun were going to be for a while.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Nasuti tapped her foot lightly and looked at her watch. For the third time. In two minutes.

"Nasuti, don't _worry_," Shu chuckled, sipping his tea and taking a tidbit from the tray and popping it in his mouth. He chewed slowly and swallowed. "Ah, good! - Look, there they are!" He was watching the door, next to which were standing Ryo, Jun and Maki. Nasuti waved slightly and caught their eyes; immediately they walked over, smiling broadly. Maki and Jun each hugged all of them at the table then sat down on either side of Ryo - Maki next to Touma, Jun next to Shu. Seiji sat between Touma and Shin; Nasuti was between Shu and Shin. Shu grinned and rested his arm around Jun's shoulders, motioning toward Nasuti. "She was getting worried about you."

"I was only _wondering_ ..." Nasuti murmured, looking at her glass, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. The whole table laughed.

"Now look, Shu, you made her blush!" That made it worse.

Maki looked around at the smiling faces, at Jun, and gave him a victory sign. Tonight would be a _lot_ of fun.

- - - - - - - - - - -

It was past being late when Maki woke from her sleep with a dry mouth and cotton for tonsils. She pushed herself up from the futon and stumbled quietly into the kitchen. She filled a glass with cold water and drank half of it, shivered slightly. It was nice in the house, but Maki wanted to be outside.

She stood on the back porch in her undershirt and shorts, her half-full glass in hand and her stomach knotting uneasily. She trembled, looking around for the cause of her fear, but found nothing to contend with.

_-calm-_

A cold nose brushed her hand and she almost shrieked. Instead, she whirled and found, not an attacker with a knife, but Ryo's calm-eyed, striped companion. She relaxed.

"Byakuen, you _scared_ me ..." she murmured, kneeling in front of him. He butted his head against her shoulder gently and she scratched behind his ears.

_-safe-_

_-calm-_

Purr-rumble.

Maki smiled and continued. She was starting to unknot. He licked her arm and she giggled softly as he kept on. "Byakuen, stop, that tickles." He obeyed, nudged her jaw and stretched, then was gone. She smiled. Byakuen was so _cool _...

Slight sound.

Maki froze. Before she could turn, there was hand over her mouth and a dirk at her throat.

"Don't make any noise, little one, and I promise that it will be quick." The voice was so _hideous_; Maki felt like retching. She was shaking violently, the glass clutched so tightly in her hand she was afraid it was going to break. Two figures appeared, clad completely in black and carrying long daggers. They nodded and vanished by the sliding door. Maki's attacker pulled her closer to the door and peeked into the living room. Maki reacted and swung the glass over her shoulder, into his face. He recoiled; Maki ran. Down the steps, into the grass, toward the lake. She felt his anger - bloody, furied, deadly - behind her, tangible as the grass beneath her feet, and knew that she was going to die.

Then there was a roar from farther behind, then a whump followed by a wet tearing crunch.

_-anger-_

_-safe-_

Maki turned and saw Byakuen standing just a few feet behind her. She ignored the flecks of blood on his front paws, muzzle and chest in her relief. It flooded her and her knees buckled, Byakuen there to catch her.

_-Jun-_

_-safe-_

_-go-_

_-NOW-_

She clambered onto his back and had barely time enough to hold on before they were in the bamboo forest.

_-silence-_

_-fury-_

Maki crouched low, buried her face in his fur to hide her tears and quiet her sobs. She could hear more of them, quiet but not silent like Byakuen. Suddenly her thoughts sparked to Jun; something earlier had spoken of him in such a forlorn tone ... Was he dead? That tone ... So sad ...

... they had killed him? ...

"Byakuen ... hurt them ..."

_-kill-_

He stood in a clearing, tail twitching, for long moments. The slightest knock of a bamboo shaft on one side, again on the other side - then there were six of them all around. For a few seconds, time slowed and Maki knew _she_ would not die tonight.

It was merely seconds before all six were dead in small, personal, dark pools of liquid life. Byakuen was still for a moment, then took off toward the mansion. Lights were on in the windows and everything was mostly silent, barring the sound of furied swordplay in the backyard. Seiji was fighting another black-clad attacker in the grass, the former with a glowing-green dachi and the latter with two long dirks. Seiji feinted and struck, ripping down the front of the enemy, the impact throwing her back. She screamed when he struck, darkness flowing down her clothing as she stood up. Suddenly there was an explosion of smoke; Seiji rushed in and sliced at it with glowing blade. It dissipated quickly, revealing nothing; Seiji cursed softly, his hand white-knuckled on the hilt of his dachi.

Byakuen stopped on the back porch next to Ryo, Shin, Nasuti and the freestanding, tight-fisted Jun. Maki slid off Byakuen's back and barely stood, looking at each of the Troopers, Nasuti, and finally, Jun.

"A-Are you okay, Maki?" he whispered, his arms trembling. She could only nod dumbly. Byakuen nudged her toward him and went to Ryo, who knelt and embraced the tiger around the neck, to check the youth for wounds. Maki stumbled and fell into Jun's suddenly open arms and her tears began anew. Jun seemed surprised by the sudden outburst and was stiff for a few minutes, until finally he hugged her tight. Seiji came back onto the deck and nodded toward Ryo.

"Back inside, everyone. Now." He waited for Shin to go inside, then Nasuti and Seiji. Byakuen nudged Jun and Maki inside - with Maki still sobbing silently on the boy's shoulder - and Ryo closed the doors behind them.

Shu and Touma were on the couch, with Shu being tended to. A few slices from a sharp dirk; Seiji knelt and took care of those easily. Shin settled Nasuti in a chair and went to the kitchen, presumably to make cha - tea. Ryo stood guard tensely by the glass door with Byakuen at his side. Nasuti trembled but her eyes were dry; Maki had been relegated from Jun's shoulder to a seat next to Nasuti, where the young woman had an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Nasuti," Maki whispered, looking up at the woman with large eyes, "why did Seiji's dachi glow?"

Nasuti sighed softly, hugging Maki a little closer. "I don't know who they were, or _what_ they were, Maki-chan ... but there's something -" She looked across to Ryo, who shook his head. Nasuti looked down at Maki again. "-wrong with the whole thing. It'll be all right, don't you worry." She gave the girl another squeeze around the shoulders; Maki moved away and sat next to Jun, leaning on his shoulder again. Nasuti ran her fingers through her long hair, watching the strands fall back with gravity's pull. "So ... what was it all about?" Her query was met with silence. "Will they come back?"

"We don't know, Nasuti," Shin said quietly. "You know as much as we do."

"They didn't look like Arago's goonies," Shu put in, leaning back on the couch with his hands behind his head. "Remember those guys? All you needed to get rid of them was a can opener!" He laughed.

"Shu, this isn't funny," Ryo said in a low tone. He sat inside the curve of Byakuen's ribs, one hand on the tiger's head. "Those freaks almost had Maki and Jun; hell, they almost had us!" He slammed his closed fist into the floor. "_Us_. And we're the Troopers."

"They were shinobi," Seiji replied quietly. He leaned against the side of Touma's chair, dressed in the pair of kendo pants he had hurriedly put on when the attack became known. All of them were in a similar state of disorder and sleep-dress. "They meant to kill us in our sleep"

While the adults spoke, Maki was practically sitting in Jun's lap, shaking slightly and trying not to cry. Jun's arm was awkwardly placed around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. It wasn't working as well as Jun had hoped. He was trying to listen to the adults speak, but Maki's shaky whisper caught his ear. "Jun? What's going on? What were those things? Why were they after us?"

"Um … well, it's a little complicated, Maki-chan …" he whispered back.

"What do you mean, 'complicated'? We almost got killed!" He shushed her and motioned her upstairs, taking her by the wrist and tugging gently when she seemed incapable of moving on her own. She stood up and stumbled upstairs after him, her wrist still in his hand. Jun looked back and saw Touma and Shu watching him. Both nodded slightly, and Jun knew that it was better that Maki not listen to them just yet. They stopped on the balcony and sat down, facing each other.

"It's complicated because … well, because they're superheroes, Maki. They saved the world."

"Jun, don't be stupid. There's no such thing as superheroes. They're all in comic books."

"Liar!" Jun shot back, pride in his voice. "They are too superheroes, because they saved the world more than once already! And now they're going to do it again!"

Maki sighed, exasperated and scared. "You're not making any sense, Jun. The world hasn't _been_ in danger, it's been just fine!"

Jun leaned forward with a smirk on his face and poked her firmly in the forehead. "No, you just _think_ like that. Everybody except me and 'Suti and the guys and Byakuen were all brainwashed so all their negative emotions could feed Arago! But nobody remembers it."

She slapped his hand away. "Shut up, Jun, you're lying." She was shaking, and the tears were starting to well up again. Jun felt mollified and ashamed, seeing the tears on the verge of falling, and held up his hands in defense.

"Hey, okay, okay, I won't talk about it anymore tonight. Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered carefully, looking down at her prickling skin, fiddling with her fingers. Jun saw the goosebumps rise and hurried to get her a warm blanket. When he wrapped it around her shoulders, he grinned a little.

"Better?" She nodded. "Good, come on." He took her wrist and crept down the hall toward Nasuti's office. Maki wanted to ask what they were doing, but felt it better to keep quiet. Jun opened the office door and led her in, the impish grin still set on his face. "See?" He left her and went to open a glass box on Mia's desk, lifting out an odd-shaped, pinkish thing on a rope, like the yang part of a yin-yang. Or maybe the yin.

"Jun, maybe you shouldn't -"

"Shh, Maki. Just look at it, okay?" He held it out in both hands. It was the first time she had ever seen reverence in Jun, and she found it was not so odd as she might have imagined. She looked at the thing he held in his hands; it seemed to glow, and the radiance - whether real or imagined - was comforting and left her awash with hope and security. She stroked its smooth, pearlescent surface with one finger, feeling warm and more unafraid with each passing moment. She looked up at Jun for a moment, wonderingly.

"You ... you really aren't lying, are you?" He just grinned and shook his head, then took it back to its glass casing, replacing it carefully on its small wooden pedestal inside. When he left the office, she followed him. She felt a little dazed, with the warmth from the jewel that was slowly spreading and relaxing her muscles.

"Come on, Maki. You probably need to go back to sleep. It's late, anyway."

"But ... what if they come back?"

"The guys will protect us. And Byakuen, too," Jun reassured her. "It's no big deal." He led her back downstairs, and the adults fell quiet on their approach. Jun smiled and hopped up next to Shu, mocking the elder's posture. Shu laughed and mussed his hair. Maki stood for a moment, uncertain, then sat down next to Ryo, against Byakuen's shoulder. Ryo smiled, putting one hand on her shoulder gently.

"Byakuen won't let anything happen to you, Maki-chan." Byakuen twisted and rumbled softly, rubbing his head against her cheek. She wrapped her arms around the big tiger's neck.

_-calm-_

_-safe-_

"Good ..." she mumbled, already falling into the pattern of sleep. She barely felt Nasuti's slim hand brush over her hair, before slumber overtook her once more.

- - - - - - - - - - -

_Man, it feels so _weird_ to be back in here making breakfast,_ Shin thought He stirred a pan of scrambled eggs carefully so they wouldn't burn, and checked on the rice that was steaming in a pot nearby. _I haven't done this since I was 15, and Arago was still ruling our lives._ He glanced at the coffee, which was almost finished percolating, and tucked his green shirttail over the panhandle again so as not to burn himself. He stirred the eggs one more time, then went to sliding it all onto a waiting platter. Nasuti came in as he was finishing, and smiled as she went to get some coffee.

"Feeling a bit odd, too, neh?" she asked softly.

Shin ducked his head slightly to his embarrassed smile. "Yeah ... a little." He looked up at her. "Anyone else up?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of. Unless it's Shu or Jun. You know how they are when they smell food ..."

"Yeah, I know. I remember," Shin said as he tried to smother a laugh. He checked on the rice again, then on the tea. "Stubborn Seiji. Won't take anything but rice and cha for breakfast before he goes to practice." He laughed inwardly. "I hope you wanted eggs."

"That's fine, Shin." She sipped her coffee in silence. She shifted and her robe shifted with her, but neither seemed to notice or care - she was wearing a tanktop and shorts underneath. He went about his business in his blue board shorts and seagreen shirt, his hair all a-muss and his eyes sparkling with memories of the way it used to be. Toast popped up; he took out the four pieces and set them on a plate on the stovetop to stay warm before taking another four pieces of bread and putting them in the toaster. He left the frying meat alone and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Things don't feel like they've changed, do they?"

"No. They don't." She laughed a little. "Except we're older."

He smiled a little over the rim of his cup. "Except that." Shin took a sip and savored the taste. "'Suti, have you ever read anything about shinobi in all that your grandfather kept?"

"Not ... like those last night," she replied quietly. "I've never come across anything about shinobi that bleed black."

"They weren't human," he murmured. His eyes had gone blank; his mind was wandering elsewhere. "I could feel it. I'm sure all the rest could too." The toaster clanked and made them both jump a little. They laughed at each other, while Shin removed the toast and went to make four more. Already the plate was heaping with slices, but he was sure his friends' appetites hadn't gotten any smaller. Nasuti busied herself with setting cups, plates and silverware on the large dining room table. She knew as soon as the smell of food came around the living room the boys - and girl - would be up and wanting to eat. It wouldn't be long at all. She thought about going upstairs to escape the rush, and then thought about what might happen if she were caught in it and decided to stay downstairs. It wasn't like they had never seen Nasuti in just shorts and a tanktop. Instead of going upstairs, she left the dining room and went outside onto the back porch, where so much had happened last night. So much that she thought had gone away. Had been defeated. And now, come to find that the old saying was right: "Evil is forever."

_But if evil is forever, then so is good_, she thought to herself, sipping her coffee slowly. _Without good to compare to, what is evil? Nothing_.

A hand fell to rest on her shoulder; she jumped, clutching her coffee cup, but relaxed with the soft chuckle. "We're all a little jumpy." She twisted to look up at Ryo behind her, smiling down at her slightly. He hadn't done much in the way of grooming yet this morning - his black hair was sticking up and out and every which way, and he hadn't bothered to change out of the loose and faded black sweatshorts he slept in, or put anything else on besides.

"How long have you been up?"

"Oh, a while," he replied vaguely, taking another sip of his coffee. He turned back toward the house again slightly, then offered Nasuti a hand. "Sounds like we're not the only ones awake. Better get inside, before all the food gets inhaled by a certain pair of blue-haired boys." Nasuti giggled and took his hand up, preceding him into the house. Ryo scanned the backyard once with narrowed eyes before going inside and closing the sliding door.

Breakfast was a forced affair. The kids were quiet, and the adults' laughter was forced. Byakuen sat at the backdoor like a giant housecat, watching for anything suspicious, the sunlight setting his white coat aglow. After eating, Jun and Maki were in better spirits, and the others' spirits were lifted to see them bantering as they ran up the stairs. Things were relatively quiet afterward, no one speaking as the dirty dishes were gathered and taken into the kitchen. Extra cups of coffee and cha were poured. All six of them sat in the living room, none of them speaking a word but staring into their cups as if they would divine answers from the liquid.

"Well, now what?" asked Shu quietly. He looked around at his silent companions. "Was it isolated? Just something … something random? Or not?"

"It could have been random," said Nasuti slowly. "If it doesn't happen again -"

"What if it does?" asked a higher girl's voice. They all looked up, startled, to see Jun and Maki leaning on the second floor balcony railing. They were obviously calmer than the adults; but then, children are always apt to accept the unacceptable better than adults. "What are we going to do if it happens again?"

"Then we will fight." That was Seiji, who was looking at Ryo. Eventually, Rekka looked up at Korin, then around the room at the others who had survived the near end of the world by Arago. He nodded slowly.

"Yes. We will fight. Today, we need to get back in shape, get used to our yoroi again. Nasuti, please try to find something out about these shinobi."

"Of course," the woman replied. She rose with a small smile and made them all a bow. "I'll go begin that now. Perhaps I will come practice after lunch." She went upstairs quietly, smiling at the two children as she passed them on her way to her bedroom. Ryo looked around at his friends again. Touma gave him a wry grin and clapped his hands on his knees. He rose and stretched.

"Well, guess I'll see you five on the training grounds."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Aku Kinu is a very pretty young girl. She is also very popular in university; she has many friends, and many who would like to be her friends. However, she is also somewhat of a cliquish brat and has a tendency to blow off those whom she doesn't care for - which happens to be quite a few people. She is also an amateur witch, but as with many things in Kinu's mind, she is perfectly able to do anything magic, no matter how difficult - or how dark. Just last week, she performed a very advanced ritual that would call a daemon to serve her, but she botched it because she was too inexperienced. She thought she closed the circle of power and shielded herself well, but the ritual alerted other evils to her whereabouts. Most of these things are too weak to break the moderately powerful wards that Kinu set. Some, however, are far _more _powerful and are simply watching.

Four such creatures are tired of watching.

Kinu slept peacefully in the confines of her superbly decorated bedroom, under designer sheets in her designer garments. Four different but equally powerful spirits watched the girl, deciding to whom her body would go to. They spoke among themselves in their disembodied and unintelligible language, so faint that no normal human would ever hear them. Finally three spirits slowly vanished from the room, leaving one silvery mist cloud hanging above the girl's body. In one breath, Kinu inhaled the mist, and the daemon took the body for its own. Kinu's essence was destroyed, but her memories and attitude, along with other attributes, were kept intact.

Kinu's eyes opened slowly. There was a hardness that had not been there before; a hardness that added to the distaste and irritation for all those below her. She smiled slightly and raised her hands up before her face: they were small, pale and nimble. They moved as she commanded. She smothered a hysterical laugh with some difficulty.

"I am Aku Kinu," she whispered into the night. "I am Aku Kinu, and within me I hold the future for Arasoi, the goddess of Strife and Disruption." She pulled the covers up higher, turned on her side and went to sleep again, this time with a small smirk of satisfaction on her lips.


	2. Chapter 2

"So … has he called you?" she asked with an apparently innocent air. The brown-blue-haired girl gave her a withering look that melted into a shy grin. 

"No … not yet. But he will." She put the last folded shirt on the pile of others that sat on her bed. She toyed with a blue lock that had fallen out of her loose, messy hair tail. Her black-haired roommate grinned and let a small, curly braid fall from her fingers. Green eyes, rimmed in black kohl, sparked mischievously.

"Ah, young love … so – ack!" The exclamation was muffled in the pillow that landed square on her face. She was laughing when it fell away. "Your aim's getting better."

"I get lots of practice," came the wry reply. The black-haired girl feigned innocence again. "Don't try it, Kage. It doesn't suit you at all."

"Well, Kaminari Aoitori, neither does that awful look on your face." The brown-haired girl grinned again.

"So? You try for innocence, and I'll try for... whatever this is."

"_Fine_, Tori, be stubborn like that." Kage paused a moment. "So when's he going to call?"

Tori threw up her hands, exasperated. "Eee, Kage! _You_ might have more interest in this relationship than _I_ do!" Her friend laughed, and Tori's grin took on an impish twist. "Of course, once you meet his _friend_, your interest _might_ just switch places."

"Excuse-me-what?" the girl asked. She blinked once, exaggeratedly.

Tori continued to grin ever so sweetly. "Touma has a friend that he thinks you'd like to meet."

"Touma's met me once. _Once_."

"You have a strong personality. Once is all he needed."

"I am _not_ letting you set me up." Kage backed up her flat words with an equally flat glare. "No way."

In a sudden turn of the dramatic, Tori dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead to the floor. "Pleeeeease, Kage-chan!"

"No."

"Please!"

"No!"

"Please?"

"No?"

"_Please_."

"_No_."

"I_promised_."

"Promised who?"

"Touma …"

"Tori!"

"Sorry! But he sounds cool and I think you two could really get along!"

"You_know_ I hate getting set up…"

"Look, Kage, just… meet him. Just once. _I've_ never met him before either, just talked to him a minute on the phone. Just _once_ and if you don't like him, you don't ever have to see him again."

Kage glanced at the far wall, ignoring her still-genuflecting friend and looking rather sour. "You're damn right about that…" she muttered, looking back at Tori again. With a heavy sigh, she acceded. "All _right_, dammit, I'll go. Get up, you're making me nervous." With a grin, Tori obeyed. "When's this little outing, anyway?"

"This afternoon, to be decided after I call Touma." Kage just groaned aloud in frustration.

"…I don't like you right now."

"But you love me anyway."

"Lucky for you that I do. If I didn't love you so much for being a sister, I'd set you on fire." Tori only laughed nervously in response.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Come on, Ryo, what could it hurt?"

"I don't know, I'm not the one getting me _into_ this mess!" The warrior of fire looked only momentarily confused by his own statement before he switched his face back to stern mode. His blue-haired friend simply grinned.

"Exactly!_I_ am, which is why you're going upstairs and getting dressed now!" Touma pushed him down the hall, waiting until the black-haired boy turned and went grumbling. He grinned at Ryo as the black-haired boy went into the guest room and shut the door. The phone rang almost immediately after that, and Touma picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Touma!"

"Hey there, Tori! How did it go over there?" He could hear the open amusement in her voice when she answered.

"Well, it took a lot of begging and kowtowing, but she finally agreed." She decided that telling him about the fiery threat could wait. "What about you?"

"I didn't have nearly as much trouble. I just shoved Ryo down the hall and he should be getting dressed." He made the last sentence louder than necessary, and Ryo's equally loud grumbling on the other side of the bedroom door made it clear that he had heard him. Touma only chuckled. "Anyway, when do you want to meet up?"

"How's three sound to you?"

"That gives us two hours… Sounds fine to me."

"Okay. We'll meet you at the park."

"Great! See you then."

"Bye!" She hung up and he did the same, turning to head to his own room. Shin caught him as he came out of the kitchen, a quizzical look on his boyish face.

"Why were you yelling?"

"I wasn't. Was I?"

"Yes," Shin replied at the same time as Ryo, who had just walked out of his room with a towel under his arm and a slightly sour look on his face.

"He set me up," he told the auburn-haired youth and stalked into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind him. Shin looked back at Touma, who only grinned and shrugged slightly.

"It's just a phase." Shin followed him into his room, leaning in the doorway. Touma went through his clothes leisurely, tossing some wrinkled ones onto the bed haphazardly along with some that were half-ironed from the closet. Shin would never be able to figure out how Touma lived like this. _As long as it doesn't migrate into the rest of the apartment, I guess it doesn't really matter._

"What's going on?"

"Oh, I just set Ryo and Tori's 'sister' up on a date of sorts. We're all going out together." The blue-eyed boy stopped and peeked around the closet door at Shin. "Do you have plans already? I mean, it's not really a date, we're just all going to hang out together …"

Shin laughed. "No thanks, Touma. I've got some things to do here, and then Mishima-sensei said I could come down and work at the aquarium afterwards."

"Okay, then," the other boy replied amiably. "In that case, will you help me pick something out?" Shin laughed silently at the forlorn tone.

"I don't think I could. You can't wear anything in here."

"Why not!"

"Because everything's _wrinkled_."

"…So?"

Sigh. "Touma, it makes you look bad. Here, you fool." Picking up a pair of jeans, a blue tanktop and a loose black oxford, he handed them to his housemate. "Now. Go iron those."

"Iron?"

"Yes, iron. Everything. You should be done with it by the time Ryo gets out of the shower and then he can iron anything if he needs to. And don't burn anything this time!" he told the other boy sternly. Shaking his head, Shin went back into the living room and sat down on the couch to work on the papers on the coffee table. "I always have to be the mother," he muttered with a sigh.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"I wonder where they are," Tori wondered aloud, sipping from her iced mocha while she wandered through the park. It was sunny and mild outside, and both she and Kage had dressed accordingly, of course. Tori adjusted the sleeveless, sky blue tunic-shirt over her shoulders before she began fiddling with the wide brown belt hanging over her hips. Kage put her free hand in her jeans pocket, holding her iced vanilla chai in the other. The strands of her long, curly, black ponytail shifted in a gentle breeze.

"No clue, Tori," she replied, shifting her shoulders absently and adjusting the straps of the red tanktop she wore. "Maybe they decided not to come."

"Ch'. Yeah right." Aoitori favored her roommate with an especially poisonous glare, which the other girl shrank from in mock-fear. "Touma wouldn't do that. He's too polite."

"Well, bully for him," Kage muttered in decidedly Irish-accented English. She got an elbow to the ribs and yelped. "Oi! What was that for?"

"I heard that, thank you so much. Just because your accent's thick doesn't mean I can't understand you, you know. After all, I knew your father too." A blow of regret hit Tori after the words passed, but Kage seemed not to notice the words; or if she did, she ignored any pain that the words should have brought with them. Instead, she smiled cheerfully, glitter-glossed lips parting to show white teeth.

"Well, sister dear, it certainly would've been wasted if you hadn't!"

"Oh, ha ha, Kage. _Very_ funny."

"I know. Wasn't it?" Tori opened her mouth to deliver another scathing retort along the lines of "Don't make me waste my coffee on you," when someone else's voice interrupted her.

"Hey! Kaminari!" Tori's head snapped around, making Kage laugh. She caught sight of Touma's blue hair first, then the wildly waving arm that he displayed proudly above his head. She assumed that the black-haired guy next to him was Sanada Ryo. Only one way to find out.

"Come on, Kage. It's them!" Without waiting for a response – positive or negative – she grabbed Kage by the wrist and started off in the boys' direction, ignoring Kage's muted protest. "Smile, dammit," she whispered jocularly to her almost-frowning friend, putting on a bright smile herself. Kage glared at her a moment, about to reply, but the boys had met them halfway. She put on a small smirk – the hell if she was going to give them anything better right now. She hung back as Tori and Touma bowed to each other, noticing that Ryo did the same and was trying not to look at her openly. In contrast, she looked at him boldly until they made eye contact, then smiled a little wider. He blushed slightly and averted his eyes shyly. She ate it up; making others feel odd was painfully easy in Japan, and though she knew it was rather rude, she did it anyway.

Touma and Tori parted and started down the path, talking animatedly, leaving Ryo and Kage to stand near each other. He regarded the trees alongside the path, as if he did not know what to do about his situation. Well, he really did _not_ know what to do – this had been Touma's idea, not his. Social situations made him freeze up.

So when Kage smiled winningly and made the first move, it was almost only natural that he should blush a little. Even if all she did was introduce herself and ask his name. When he made no attempt to answer, she stepped in front of him and smiled again, green eyes boring into his.

"I'm sorry, but what's your name?" she asked again. "I don't think Tori told me, and Touma obviously doesn't know me well."

"Sanada Ryo," he replied, trying to sound firm. Proud of his voice for not wavering, he continued on a bit. "You said your name was Shinikaru…"

"Kage," she supplied, motioning toward the disappearing pair ahead of them. He bowed sheepishly and went ahead, noting she fell in step beside him.

"I'm very sorry for not paying attention. Please forgive my bad manners," he said politely.

She waved her hand at him. "Oh, don't," she admonished cheerfully. "Just remember Kage from now on and let's call the whole thing off."

Well._This_ girl was something else, definitely. "Where are you from?" he asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable being so blunt. She was unaffected, sipping her chai before she answered.

"Here. Tokyo," she added, "but I spent a lot of years in the States with my father. Lived there after I turned nine ... and then I came back for the last two years of high school and all of university."

"Aa," he said, at a conspicuous loss for words again. Luckily, she had more than enough ready-made questions for people already formulated in her head.

"Are you from Tokyo too?"

"Close. I grew up in the mountains with my parents."

"Sanada, eh?" she asked. "That's a very prominent name."

"Yes," he replied.

"Ninja?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

She smiled and shrugged, a little sheepishly. "To be honest, I think I picked it up in a book somewhere."

They walked through the park for some time, finally ending up together in the shade. They had become decently comfortable with each other in relatively little time. Kage stood and stretched a moment after sitting for a while. "I need something to drink. Anybody up?" The others shook their heads with smiles and she headed off in search of a little kiosk. After a moment or two, she heard rapid footsteps, whirled and grinned at Ryo as he fast approached. "Thought you didn't want anything?"

His return grin was sheepish but genuine. "Thought you... might like some help?" He did not say that Touma and Tori had inspired the thought, nor did Kage voice her suspicions. Instead, they searched out a cat. Kage bought a bottle of water and they started back slowly, making small talk. Suddenly a jolt seemed to hit both of them at the same time, as they both jerked into a higher awareness at the same time. The rest of the park crowd walked on, oblivious to what the two felt, like a thundercloud had just blackened the sky unnoticed. Ryo looked over at Kage, somewhat surprised to see his stony look reflected on her face. It was something he would have to muse over later; now just was not the time. "I think we should get back to Touma and Tori."

"Good idea," she replied, already two steps forward. Ryo went to catch up with her and soon they were both heading back at a run. They met Touma and Tori when they were nearly back to where they had started.

"We have to go," Touma said without preamble. Ryo nodded, not bothering to speak, but grabbing Kage's wrist and taking off at a trot. _Protect the girls protect the people get out of here now_ flowed in circles in his head. Kage went along without complaint, Touma and Tori only steps behind her. People paid little attention to the four as they hurried by; at the least, the rest of the population seemed to have noticed something did not feel right as they began hurrying themselves. The two Troopers and the two girls almost made it out of the park safely, but as they neared the divide between park and city street, concrete exploded in fire and rock shards. Ryo and Kage were closest to the blast and fell back into Touma and Tori. Concrete rained down on them as they attempted recover. Jumping to their feet, Ryo yelled for them to split up. Kage opened her mouth to argue, but Tori jerked her away as the guys sprinted off. So she ran, hand-in-hand with her adopted sister and with all her senses on high alert.

"What's going on?" Tori said. Kage only shook her head. "It's not—"

"Man-made," Kage growled. "Whatever it is..." A series of small explosions behind them jarred Kage to a stop. She knew instinctively the boys were in trouble.

"Kage, we've got to get out of the park!" Tori hissed.

"We can't just _leave_ them!"

"We have to, what if—" An explosion not far from their feet drew a shriek from Tori. Kage flinched to shield herself, but opened one eye when nothing hit. A faint blue dome surrounded the two; the energy supporting it seemed to fountain from the back of Tori's neck.

"Tori!" she exclaimed. The other girl's eyes opened and the dome shivered. Kage's grin was brilliant. "When'd you learn that?"

"Uh..." The dome suddenly vanished. "...now?"

"Can you do it again?"

"Maybe?" Kage grabbed her arm and started back the other way, but Tori did not budge. "Wait, Kage!"

"What? Tori, whatever's after us is after them too!" the other girl exclaimed. "There's no sense in being apart if we can help!" Tori hesitated a moment before going with Kage at a run. Hand-in-hand again, they searched for the boys; luckily, or maybe unluckily, they were not hard to find. In a small grove, a horde of shadowy creatures had surrounded the pair. The girls were perhaps less shocked to see the creatures than the boys in their subarmor. Tori actually clapped a hand over her mouth with a gasp.

"Oh my God!" she whispered.

"What?"

"They're_Samurai Troopers_!"

"What—Are you nuts? They're not _real_!"

"Shut up, Kage! They are! Look, for the love of—"

"Well why worry, then?"

"Kage_no_!"

"They could sure use the help!" Arguing behind a tree, both were oblivious to a small group approaching them. Only a faint hiss alerted Kage, who cursed aloud as she jumped back. Tori simply bolted toward the boys. "Tori, don't run! Not _toward_ them!" All thoughts of anything other than helping her sister fled her mind as a pair split from the small group to chase Tori. She sprinted after them and grabbed a thick fallen branch on her way, using the momentum of her run as she swung it like a club at the pair. They tumbled with matching snarls and rose to advance on her. She backed herself into a tree, facing the boys and Tori. "C'mon then, ya feckin' wanks," she growled in accented English.

"Kage!" came identical cries in three voices. She ignored them in favor of clubbing another creature too close for comfort. Suddenly they were all on her and it was all she could do to keep them off. One managed to scratch her and it burned deeply as she swung with all her strength. She knew she would wear down none too soon and she would be useless, maybe dead... The thought inflamed her, along with the knowledge that she had no clue who or what was doing this to them. Any idea of keeping quiet about her and Tori's secret scurried to the back of her mind. She raised a hand and hurled a fireball into one's chest. An intolerable scream bubbled up as it melted. Kage smiled predatorially, the remaining flames reflected in her eyes as she turned to the rest of the group as they retreated a few steps in confusion. "Gotcha, bitch." She laid waste to her small group of attackers, panting when she was through. When it was over, she noticed that somehow she had managed to get separated from the boys and Tori and headed back at a limp, ignoring the acidic burning on her thigh.

When she arrived, they were busy with the remains of the large predators. Touma, busy making pincushions with arrows; Ryo slicing bits up with his swords; and Tori literally shattering the occasional enemy with blue bits of lightening when the boys were not looking directly at her. Eventually there was nothing left of the enemy and only the four tired warriors on the field, panting and overtaxed.

The grounds were still for a few moments after the skirmish ended. Kage stared at the boys as she leaned back against a tree. Her eyes cut too Tori, who shook a little ways away from all of them. Tori look up and met her sister's eyes. Kage pushed herself up and started toward the other girl, limping badly. "Tori, you okay?" she murmured. She had to support herself on Ryo as she passed him, never noticed the searing heat off his subarmor. Tori reached out to her sister and began to search the other girl as she had to support her more.

"Kage—"

"I'm okay. Just need to sit..." Kage made to sit carefully, but her legs gave out halfway to the ground. Tori gave a little cry of dismay; the boys whirled, looking for another attacker. Tori only glanced at them warily as Kage waved off her fussing. "I'm okay, I'm okay! Just tired..." Touma and Ryo looked at each other; Touma shook his head and pointed. Ryo looked and saw the smoking wound in her thigh. He knelt by her, looked her over and frowned.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked. She shook her head carefully.

"Not... that I know." He eyed her, speaking to Touma without looking at him.

"Touma... we—"

"Yeah." He looked at Tori and smiled, like everything was normal. "I'll take you home, Tori, okay?" His subarmor suddenly vanished and left him looking just like he had when they had entered the park. Only the look on his face gave anything away. The girl looked at Kage, who smiled weakly.

"But she needs to go to the hospital—"

"Don't worry, Tori, I'll take her." Kage looked as if she would argue – he was beginning to see a pattern in that – but he did not give her the chance. His subarmor and katanas vanished and he helped Kage stand, supporting her with an arm around her waist. She wobbled but fought a desire to pass out. She eyed Ryo sideways, then Touma.

"I'll be okay, Tori," she finally said. Her voice was noticeably weaker than before, but she smiled and put on a strong front. "Let Touma take you home and I'll be back in no time."

"O-okay..." Tori said. Almost as if on impulse, she hugged her sister fiercely, then stepped back with a stern look for Ryo. She shook a finger very close to his nose. "You take good care of her! I won't have her being injured for days!" Ryo managed a short laugh and acquiescence, shooing her away. Touma took her by the shoulders and escorted her out of the grove. The two heard him asking the brunette girl questions in a soothing tone. Ryo turned to Kage, whose strong front was faltering fast.

"Kage-san, I—"

"Don't call me that," she said in a poor imitation of her former fire. As she continued, her voice faded. "Do whatever you've got in mind. I probably won't be conscious for most..." Her eyes fluttered a moment, then her knees gave out and she crumpled. Ryo caught her up with a hiss of concern and sighed as he adjusted her weight. Looking around a moment to make sure no one else was watching, he closed his eyes to concentrate. In seconds, they were gone from the park, flying through the air in a ball of red light.


End file.
